Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
During Construction
100% 0 to 6%
Tony Ristola Typical
LEADERSHIP DRIVEN GOLF COURSE ARCHITECTURE
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
sandvalleygolf.blogspot.com
tonyristola.blogspot.com
• Number of hours worked per day on average: 11 hours (includes Sat. & Sun.)
• Total Hours: 5500+. My work day started on average at 06:00, and I was usually the last to leave the construction site.
Responsibilities
• Golf Course Design: The golf course was designed in the field on a daily basis. An EIGCA architect began the project, but his
design was abandoned. The EIGCA architect’s general routing was used though modified.
• Lead shaper: shaping all greens, all fairways and larger scale bunkers.
(Caterpillar D6N & D6R) No “detailed plans” were used to create the greens, hazards or fairway contours. In fact, no grade stakes
were used!
42.8% of American golf course architects polled found it difficult to find qualified builders for their projects. In Europe the percentage is
far greater. Sand Valley started with an EIGCA ( European Institute of Golf Course Architects) architect’s detailed plans and a golf course
builder hired on the strength of their previous work. I was brought in after 11-months and the project started anew. Virtually everything
the previous builder produced was scrapped. All greens, fairways and strategies are the product of my daily involvement and bulldozer
blade. No plans were used, only my vision of how to take a costly mess and turn it into a winning jewel for the owners.
Daily involvement speeds the effort and eliminates opportunities for error because communication between architect and builder is daily,
virtually instantaneous and based on days, weeks and months of constant observation and thought. Being present to answer questions
from the constructors immediately and not during a rare “site-visit” days or weeks later after “work completed according to plan” and has
to be redone saves time, money and increases quality significantly. For example, when a feature is under construction or the irrigation
designer shows up, I’m there at their sides answering questions before works begins and as it is being achieved, thereby attaining the
desired result... or something even better than envisioned. The owner of Sand Valley, quoted below, reveals the advantages of the
architect leading construction vs. the “typical” hit-and-run method. Having experienced both methods in action, he knows the vast
differences!
Specifically, he clearly sees how daily involvement by the architect is a tremendous driving force, especially in an emerging golf nation
and continent where golf course builders are a scarcity. He believes an architect leading construction daily provides “something really
valuable for product quality” because continual assessment and improvement of strategic value and the creation of special details makes
“stuff look just stunning, yet does not cost all that much to build; details just not possible on a turn key project”.
Sand Valley was largely built by people that had no concept of golf… none! The same was done at GC Emstal, where I worked alongside a
conscientious regional general contractor to create a project ranked among the best golf courses in Germany by Golf Digest.
BUND (Bund für die Naturschutz Deutschland) the environmental watchdog group gave this far-reaching endorsement:
The reason this is such a far reaching endorsement? When golf is in question, one usually expects the direct opposite response from
BUND. They actually buy land to stop golf projects!
The best golf courses are the product of a cooperative effort between the architect and owner/superintendent to ensure the course is set
up and matures as the architect envisioned. Great courses are a labor of love, and greatness is unlikely if the designer, owner and
superintendent play only the opening round together and never see one another again. For these reasons, my services do not stop at the
end of construction. They continue for the life of the project.
For each golf course I design, I write a book documenting its architecture, construction and maintenance practices. It becomes a
comprehensive short and long term guide for the members, guests, etc., but most importantly for the superintendent and board
members. This work provides a historical record that assists in the continuing evolvement of the project, with the goal of ensuring the
design intent is never compromised, that club funds are not misspent on doing and undoing work detrimental to the design.
agolfarchitect.com
Leadership Driven Architecture
...Because Vision and Leadership are Inseparable
Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+1 909.581.0080
Design and construction are not separate jobs, but different parts of the same job
Otherwise, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical. Any unauthorized use, sharing, reproduction, or distribution of parts herein is strictly prohibited.
Copyright © 2009